Welcome to Visit New England - Maine

Cultural pleasures of the city live cheek-to-cheek with unspoiled wilderness in the Maine Highlands region

The Maine Highlands region, also known as the Katahdin Moosehead region, encompasses the center of the state and much of its forested wilderness. This is where visitors have a very good chance at spotting moose and deer, which are plentiful. A paradise for outdoorsmen, Maine Highlands is a four-season vacationland, offering plenty of places for hunting and fishing; rafting, canoeing, and kayaking on the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers; and snowmobiling, dog sledding, and snowshoeing. Among the natural highlights of the area are Mount Katahdin, Moosehead Lake, and the 200,000-acre Baxter State Park. The park has many mountains, notably the peaks comprising the Katahdin massif and the Traveler Range. The park – with about 200 miles of hiking trails -- was designed primarily for hiking, and vehicles have access to only a limited road system.

The gateway city of this region is Bangor, once known as the Lumber Capital of the World, where visitors are greeted by a 31-foot statue of legendary lumberjack Paul Bunyan. The city had more than 300 sawmills in the 1830, and its old wealth was founded on this industry. A place to learn more is the Maine Forest and Logging Museum, an authentic reconstruction of a logging and milling community. Bangor offers fun and diverse shopping in the 19th-century buildings of the West Market Square Historic District. Bangor also is home to the beautiful Mount Hope Cemetery, one of the nation’s oldest garden cemeteries. The Maine Discovery Museum, which is the largest children’s museum north of Boston, is a place of wonder and educational entertainment for kids on vacation. The Maine Shakespeare Festival is held every summer by the Penobscot Theatre Company. Visitors can look forward to accommodations in lakeside cabins, cozy inns, and romantic B&Bs as well as in campgrounds in the forested wilds.